Sumith Prasad
After leaving Minx and Bottom Dollar Publications, Joyce tries to build an independent career in the ninth and tenth episodes of HBO Max’s comedy series ‘Minx.’ After the appearance in ‘The Dick Cavett Show,’ Joyce stays back in New York with her former colleague Maggie. She fails to get along with Maggie and her acquaintances and ultimately returns to Los Angeles, only to get welcomed by violent protests and lawsuits against her magazine. The first season of the show ends with significant developments that rewrite the fate of Minx and Joyce. On that note, let us share our thoughts regarding the same! SPOILERS AHEAD.
Minx Episode 9 and Episode 10 Recap
The ninth episode of the show, titled ‘A Scintillating Conversation About a Lethal Pesticide,’ begins with Shelly and her husband Lenny trying to improve their sex life, only to fail. Joyce goes to the office of Betsy, a famed magazine, to see her friend Maggie, who works for the same. Maggie’s boss asks Joyce to write a feature about Minx in Betsy. Maggie hosts a dinner party for Joyce and a few of her colleagues. They display their superiority complex by making fun of Joyce’s former colleagues at Bottom Dollar. Offended, Joyce leaves the party abruptly upon making an excuse and goes to a pub with a stranger.
Back at Bottom Dollar, Doug conducts the photoshoot of Billy Brunson without any regard for Minx’s style and purpose. Bambi disapproves of using photographs that do not align with Minx. She leaves Doug and Bottom Dollar when she realizes that her voice isn’t heard. Shelly goes to meet Bambi after having a dispiriting time with Lenny. They eventually start to be intimate. Doug considers Wendy Mah as Joyce’s replacement and strikes a deal with her in principle. When Doug demands Richie to take Brunson’s photographs, irrespective of his disapproval, the photographer also quits Bottom Dollar.
The tenth episode of the show, titled ‘You Happened to Me,’ begins with Willy’s wife hurting his penis in retaliation for his domestic abuse. Joyce returns to LA and confronts Doug for using Brunson’s photographs for Minx’s next issue. Willy files a lawsuit against Doug and Joyce for inciting his wife to harm him through an article that appeared in Minx. He asks men around him to protest against Minx and Bottom Dollar for publishing materials that devalue “their gender’s supremacy” and propagating “rebellious and unacceptable notions of feminism.” Councilwoman Bridget Westbury teams up with Willy and reveals that she is trying to ban pornography in the San Fernando Valley.
Minx Ending: Do Minx and Bottom Dollar Publications Shut Down?
When Willy’s wife Wanda reacts against his masculine authority over her, he realizes that Joyce’s Minx isn’t just an ignorable intellectual publication. He gets scared upon understanding that women are reading the magazine to realize their rights and value to retaliate against imposing men. As a misogynist, a society where women awaken to stand against men is nothing but horrifying for him. Thus, he proclaims the need for men to end the influence of Minx. Willy’s attempts to incite men to protest against Minx and Bottom Dollar even produce results as Doug gets forced to close down his office building temporarily.
Even though Minx and Bottom Dollar aren’t shut down yet, Doug is facing severe challenges to resume the operation of his empire. Lawsuits get filed against him and his company one after the other. Since his financial condition doesn’t allow him to settle them down out of court, Doug is drowning. In addition, Westbury’s efforts to ban porn in the Valley and her silence toward violent protestors destroying his property are expected to worsen the predicament for Doug. Since his lawyer decides against using Westbury’s secret to blackmail her, he doesn’t have any clear-cut direction in front of him to reopen his publishing house.
However, Doug and Joyce may not see the absolute end of Minx or Bottom Dollar Publications soon. As always, we can expect Doug to come up with innovative ideas to save his company and move forward with his ambitions. Even if he has to make adjustments to the content he creates, Doug is expected to make changes that satisfy and align with the readership trends. He may find a way to cope with Westbury’s opposition illegally, even if it means exposing her unrevealed secret.
Why Does Doug Give Away Minx to Joyce?
When protestors start to destroy Bottom Dollar’s office, Doug, Tina, Joyce, Bambi, and Richie hide in a secret room. To divert themselves from the violence that unfolds in front of them, Bambi and Joyce start to read readers’ mail and get astounded to know that their readers admire them. From the letters, they realize that Minx has inspired women to take a stand against their abusive husbands and overbearing men in their lives. Joyce even comes to know that a baby was named after her to appreciate her effort to release Minx. Doug, who listens to Joyce and Bambi reading these letters, realizes that Joyce has touched the hearts of his readers through Minx.
From Minx’s inception, the magazine has been nothing but a product to sell for Doug. He doesn’t have any emotional connection to Minx other than the stunning sales numbers it produces. When Joyce leaves Minx and Bottom Dollar, he seeks someone to fill her shoes for him to sell the magazine. However, after listening to the letters, Doug realizes that Minx is Joyce’s child and nobody can put their heart and soul into it as she did. His readers’ letters make him realize that Joyce’s hard work and sacrifice are the foundations of Minx’s success.
When Joyce makes it clear that she isn’t returning to Bottom Dollar Publications, Doug understands that there isn’t anyone who can replace her to run Minx. An irrefutable paycheque may help him appoint Wendy to run the magazine but it cannot recreate Joyce’s unparalleled ambition to connect with every reader through her creation. Thus, Doug gives away Minx to Joyce upon realizing that it is futile to work on the magazine without the one who gave birth to it. Minx has touched hearts through Joyce, and Doug respects that enough to step away from her dream project.
Why Doesn’t Joyce Return to Bottom Dollar Publications? Will Doug and Joyce Work Together Again?
When Doug welcomes Joyce back to Bottom Dollar Publications, she rejects the offer without even considering it for a moment. Joyce has worked and offered to work for numerous men in her life. Almost every one of them has utilized her ideas and intelligence to their advantage while exerting their authority over her. Whether it be her former boss at New York Magazine or Doug at Bottom Dollar, men have displayed their power to Joyce without respecting her in several instances. She knows that going back to Bottom Dollar will only pave the way for Doug to control her again. Thus, she decides against returning to Doug and his company.
Joyce doesn’t want to get controlled anymore. She has earned the admiration of her readers enough to independently establish her voice and expression, without a man to tell her what she should do. Joyce doesn’t want her voice to be unheard or rejected because it doesn’t align with the economics of her employer. Even if it’s a woman, another authoritarian figure to control her vision and creativity is unbearable for Joyce. Since Doug steps away from Minx, she can finally be independent as a woman and a publisher. However, that may not necessarily mean that she will never associate with Doug anymore.
Joyce admires Doug’s actions that helped her materialize her dream. While working independently for Minx, she may seek the assistance of Doug in non-creative or non-editorial affairs like printing, shipments, and sales. She may even consider working on Minx within Bottom Dollar in the future with complete editorial authority. If Doug ever accepts to publish Minx without interfering in Joyce’s creative realm, a reunion is possible.
Read More: Is Minx Based on a True Story?
